Peru
Intro There is 2 mobile operators in Peru. Claro Peru (Vodafone) and Movistar Peru (historical operator). As many other countries, the historical opeator (Movistar Peru) offers a far better coverage but it is not the cheapest. At the airport arrival, you will be offered for a SIM card. The offer is super hyper very expensive compared to what you can get at Movistar or Clairo, once in town. Claro has a heavy marketing foorprint all over the country. There is wall advertisings everywhere and claro-colored small shops/street vendors ten time per street. Movistar is less visible. Despite that, where there is Claro, there is alway Movistar too. Either the next door (litteraly) or in the same claro-colored small shop/street vendor. In the following informations, Claro stores and Movistar stores should not be mingled with street vendors, small shops or convinient stores dressed in claro or movistar colors. Claro Peru Vodafone has a "Pay as you Go" service. More information Data feature packs 50p for 25MB per day £5 for 250MB for 30 days £10 for 500MB for 30 days S/69 for 1000MB for ?? (at least 15) days Availability Purchase a SIM card from any Claro store for S./25 6( in my case they reducedbto s./15 but you never know ), and then add some money depending on how much data you want. You can recharge it at their stores or many other kiosks or convenience stores throughout the country. SIM sizes Standard SIMs are freely available. In August 2013 I needed a micro sim forvan iphone 5 and I find it with no problem Tips Data Sim for phone and for tablets. If you want to use data SIM in your phone you must buy it with calling and texting (10 GBP for 500 MB per 30 days). When you buy data SIM for tablets (5 GBP for 250 MB per 30 days) it will not work in your phone. Movistar Perú SIM cards are cheap (S/. 15, march 2014) and easily available . But you can't buy a SIM at a small shop or from a street vendor, because you need to register your new SIM card - therefore you have to go to a Movistar office. Registration at a Movistar office is a little complicated, it takes around 30 minutes until the clerks will have filled out all forms for you, have sent you to a different cash counter.... but the coverage is suprisingly good for such a vast country. In theory, a Peruvian ID card (DNI) is required to register the phone number. Presenting a foreign ID or passport will confuse some clerks, but they always find a way. Surprisingly, movistar don't offer me the ability to add credit/money on your SIM card at their office. You may have to do it from a street vendor or small shop. Weird but as long as you know it, you save time. For convenience, ask the clerck to right down somewhere your phone number (despite it's probably somewhere in the paper he will give you). The street vendor will directly send a SMS from his phone to load the amount you just gave him, on your phone number. That's why you need to know and give him your phone number. Then that's effective immediatly. Some reports stated the "street vendor/small shop" part could be skipped and some Movistar office could do that for you, as Claro does. Once you have bought a SIM card and have suffisant credit on it, a "supergarca de Internet" buys you a certain amount of data to surf on. To buy the package, you have to send a SMS with the relevant code to the number 550. You can also buy Data balance by dialing *515#, then press the dialling button and follow the menu options (first: press 2, then 4...). It means you need to put the SIM card on a phone to send the SMS and get the package you want before using it with your tablet. Tips : Disable/do not use any cellular data before buying the package as the little data consuption you may use during the time before sending the SMS will consume a small amount of your balance (like S/. 0.00something) that you may then miss to buy the package… Experience from March 2014 : Not speaking a single word of spanish, it took me around 30 minutes at the movisatr office (mainly waiting for the clerck to complete everything) and 5 minutes at the street vendor to explain and get my credit loaded. It's finally quite easy to get everything up and running. Weekly data packages S/. 3 for 25 MB / 7 days (To buy: Send SMS with the text "SEM" to 550) S/. 4 for 50 MB / 7 days S/. 5 for 75 MB / 7 days ("7D" to 550) S/. 10 for 110 MB / 7 days (Send "110 MB" to 550) Monthly data packages S/. 1 for 8 MB / 1 day (SOL) S./ 30 for 500 MB / 30 days (MES) S./ 60 for 1 GB / 30 days (1GB) S./ 90 / 30days (2GB) For example, if you want 1 GB lasting 30 days. You have to send "1GB" to 550.